Personification and depersonalisation as unconscious coping mechanisms in Ovid's exilic texts

Abstract

In about 8-9 CE, the Roman poet Ovid was exiled. While there, he wrote several works, including the Tristia and the Epistulae ex Ponto. This dissertation examines the psychological underpinnings behind some significant characters in these exilic texts, created using personification and depersonalisation. Due to modern psychological theories, particularly the SEEK model of anthropomorphism, it is now possible to understand how the effects of isolation lead to the use of anthropomorphism and dehumanization as coping mechanisms. In his exilic works, Ovid extensively used the literary equivalents of these, namely personification and depersonalisation. This dissertation demonstrates that Ovid had a wide array of reasons, some of which are psychological, for the creation of these characters, namely, to construct entities that he could interact with and who could influence his life in some meaningful way. Using personification, he created the Comforting Muse and Book-as-Child character sets. Using a mixture of depersonalisation and repersonification, he created the Augustus-Jupiter and Pontus characters, as well as other characters, wherein Ovid depersonalises himself and others into body parts, objects, animals, and concepts. These characters typically comfort Ovid by helping him while in exile with his continued existence or with his ultimate goal: recall or providing entities to rebel against to gain catharsis instead of openly admonishing the emperor who exiled him. These characters’ existence, made possible through personification and depersonalisation, fulfil Ovid’s psychological need for human comfort while helping him overcome negative emotions.